Canadian women fight for 'gender neutral' national anthem

The Canadian national anthem reads as, ‘True patriot love in all thy sons command’, and activists want the word ‘sons’ to be replaces with ‘in all of us in command’.

According to the New York Daily News, the ‘Restore Our Anthem’ move is also backed by writer Margaret Atwood and former Canadian prime minister, Kim Campbell.

The anthem, originally in French, was written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, however, the English translation by Robert Stanley Weir has become the official anthem for the country.

The report said that the activists stress that they aren’t proposing a change but rather want the ballad to be restored to the original wording.

Atwood said that restoring the lyrics to gender-neutral is not only an easy fix to make the anthem inclusive for all Canadians, but it’s also long overdue, adding that the anthem fails to recognize the value of female loyalty.

The group’s Twitter feed says that high profile Canadian femmes Avril Lavigne, Nelly Furtado, Alanis Morissette and Diana Krall are also among the supporters of the cause.